Restaurant Malaysia

Where? Restaurant Malaysia (Eixample, Barcelona, Spain) Map Menu

When? Tuesday January 4, 2022

Who? Me

Food Style? Malaysian

Okay yeah I know, why am I eating Malaysian food in Catalonia of all places. Well, I was recommended this place by a former coworker from New Zealand who now lives here and his credibility is on the line. We used to regularly go for Malaysian food back in Wellington so he at least should have an idea of what is good and bad. I’m going to see just how authentic they are and whether they live up to my high standards.

Drink

Teh Tarik
My teh tarik is pretty damn spot on. Chocolatey and creamy, it’s just how I remember it from home. It doesn’t have that frothy milk layer from being "pulled" and it’s probably from a packet, but I don’t care, this has set a good tone and I'm in a good mood.

Entree

Kerabu Tauhu: fried tofu with sliced cucumber, onions, peanuts and sweet chili sauce
The tofu is beautifully crispy and the sweet chili sauce is perfectly spicy. It’s definitely home made and not that weak rubbish you normally get from a supermarket. I’m more used to the cucumber being thinner but it’s not a dealbreaker. The best version I've had of this dish is from KK Malaysian Restaurant in Epsom, Auckland. That’s two out of two, let’s see how the main course stacks up.

Mains

Char Kuay Teow: stir-fried flat rice noodles with prawn, chicken and bean sprouts
Of course I have to order the kuay teow, it’s my one favourite dish that I can’t cook at home. First glance: the noodles are wrong. They’re too thin. Carrot is not normally fried with the noodles but there’s not a lot so I can let that slide. The most important question is whether this has wok hei - breath of the wok - that wonderful smokiness that the wok imparts to the ingredients when frying things at a high temperature. A smell of the food, then a taste…yep, there it is. Delicious. The taste is pretty good and better than what I was expecting. The sambal belacan I’ve ordered goes well with the meal, adding that salty spicyness. The noodles being small are really my only complaint about this, and it’s important because it’s harder to eat with chopsticks, otherwise this is a big pass from me.

Dessert

Bubur Hitam: Indonesia sweet black rice with coconut milk
Okay I’ll get a dessert as well. Bubur hitam is something I have never seen outside of Malaysia, not even from my favourite Malaysian restaurants in New Zealand. I can tell it’s been microwaved because some parts are nuclear hot and some parts are luke warm, but the flavour is pretty on point. The gula melaka tastes just like it’s from home, and the aroma of coconut is excellent. Again, a few flaws but still a pass.

As I’m finishing up, I can hear the kitchen yelling out some things in Bahasa, and that pleases me because it means they’re from Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia, and they know what their food should taste like. It turns out one is from Indonesia, one is from Johor Bahru, but the chef is from Kuala Lumpur, and actually I can also hear some Cantonese being brandied about. I’ve been burned at least three times by people who claim they know Malaysian food but in fact have only spent a few months or years in Malaysia and don’t know what the proper flavour profile of this complex cuisine should be. I had a good chat to the staff and it was lovely to hear that accent again.

Oh yeah I got a small discount too for being so enthusiastic about the food. Yuss!

Posted by Jeremy at 3:41am on Wednesday January 19, 2022 :: 0 comments ::